A car salesman wins salesman of the year but then has a bit of a lean November (car selling is a results business)... would he get the sack?

Almost certainly not.

But if you’re the manager of Chelsea Football Club you aren’t given the same time to recover your Midas touch.

Roberto Di Matteo was one of the most successful managers Chelsea have ever had - THE most if you think the Champions League title is the biggest thing you can win, but a bad month meant the end of the road.

In the ruthless world of Roman Abramovich no one is given time, not even the guy who delivered him his own Holy Grail in Europe.

Of course in Abramovich’s defence, it’s his club and he is entitled to run it as he sees fit.

Loyalty, though, does not seem to be a word they have much use for at Chelsea, except maybe around some of the flops they’ve bought.

Fernando Torres has been shown a fair bit of loyalty, and given chances that he hasn’t repaid, but as soon as Di Matteo left him on the bench the manager found himself out the door.

Image Caption:John Terry and Fernando Torres gave Di Matteo a few headaches

Chelsea have much to thank Roberto Di Matteo for. As a stand-in boss he got the club's stars playing as a team again, having inherited a dressing room in disarray after the reign of Andre Villas Boas.

Against the odds he knocked favourites Barcelona out of the Champions League and then beat Bayern Munich in the final in their own stadium.

He’s had to deal with the John Terry saga off the pitch, answered difficult questions in news conferences and has done so with dignity.

But with just two wins in eight games and Chelsea on the brink of not qualifying for the knockout stages of this season's premier European competition it was obvious the Italian had not shaken off the "interim manager" label.

There was no credit there, none at all, not while former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola remains Abramovich’s favourite, and available.

Whether or not Abramovich manages to tempt the Spaniard out of his year-long sabbatical in New York will soon become obvious, but in the meantime Di Matteo leaves Stamford Bridge with his head held high and an excellent CV.